Tag: Jaine Fenn

In the Star Wars tradition with Space Elves

Hope Jaine forgives me for that headline. I mean that in the best way possible.

Reading an ongoing book series is a change of pace from everyday life. One year between episodes would not go down well on television (my other interest) but it does when reading. You still want it earlier but the gap between books in a series let you re-read the ones you already have and good books are like really good friends, they are always there when you need them so I often do.

The series is basically about the fight against the Sidhe (the space-elf) females that rule the galaxy from behind the scenes. They once upon a time enslaved humanity but were killed off with the help of the male elves. Or at least that is what the galaxy at large believes.

Now Jarek seeks to bring the hidden world Serenein back into galactic civilization again. But he needs the help of the secretive Sidhe males to make that happen but they have their own agenda as he soon discovers. He is accompanied by the two assassins Taro and Nual, the later a rebel Sidhe female, the ancient enemies of the Sidhe males which complicate things.

But meanwhile things on Serenein heats up, the place is the Sidhes’ source of jump kernels and they won’t give that up without a fight. When not fighting off Sidhe incursions Kerin impersonates the old Sidhe ruler to keep the priesthood from getting suspicious.

It feels good to rekindle my friendship with these great characters. Jaine writes characters that are well-developed and easy to love. Especially Kerin and Taro step forward in this novel. Did I mention that Nual and Taro is in love and Jarek is married to Kerin? Love makes things more interesting.

This is still something of a journey of discovery (a thing I like). We learn more about the Sidhe males. Talk about learning making you want to learn more. Wonder what kind of evolution lead to their behavior, especially their reaction to females of the specie. Such a screwed up situation must have been developed at a RND department. That is my guess – where I work? In RND but we never screw up that much.

Jaine Fenn has done it again. Bringer of Light is an action adventure in the tradition Star Wars where a small group strikes back at the mighty Empire. Who is Leia and who is Luke? That is the question? There are no light-sabers but a lot of mental powers. Jokes aside you should read the other books in the series before this one it is not as standalone as the first two. Another warm recommendation from me. The next book Queen of Nowhere will be out next year.

Book Information

Jarek Reen is trying to save a lost world. He discovered the primitive theocracy of Serenein by accident, and now he wants it to take its place in human-space. To do this he needs a shiftspace beacon – without it, there is no way to find the planet again. The beacons were made by the Sidhe, the race that originally gave humanity access to the stars – and dominated human-space for millennia, before a coalition of human rebels and Sidhe males brought the evil Sidhe females down. Most people think the Sidhe are long dead, but Jarek knows better: a renegade female Sidhe is one of his companions, and a male Sidhe gave her and her lover the special powers that made them Angels, very unusual trained assassins. Jarek’s only hope is to find Aleph, the hidden system where the last Sidhe males are rumoured to live. But even if he can persuade these eccentric, introspective beings to put aside their interminable internal squabbles, he still has to persuade Serenein that joining the rest of humankind is a good thing …for the price of progress is likely to be high. Can he stop it turning into tragedy?